Chapter 1 "Countdown"
4.05 the clock said. 5 more minutes of torture until the biggest hide and seek match ever
with all the children in Stormwind!
I couldn't help drum my fingers against the desk in anticipation. I stared out the window at the familiar turrets and grey flagstone of Stormwind
"June, would you like to tell me what I was just talking about?" Sir Pent asked me.
"um..well" I spluttered and looked down at my desk away from his piercing gaze. Sir Pent. Serpent. Snake, get it? That's what we called him not just because of his name, if looks could kill we'd all be dead by now.
"Pay attention In my class stupid Draenei!" He shouted at me. That was another thing about Snakey that i hated, he was racist to every non human. Just the other day Jane and Kira were caught fighting on the desks with metre rulers and guess who got punished? Jane because she's a Night Elf!
"Now as you all know," Snakey continued "Very soon it will be revealed which class you will be. I know some of you already have an idea but after the test you will be put through It is most probable you will change your mind." Teachers were always going on about this, how soon we'd be proper grown ups with classes and everything but i can garuntee you that no one in this room cared at the moment because of the impending massive Stormwind hide and seek game. I was particularly good at those sorts of games because of my small size. However i guess Smithy made me feel better about my height. he's a gnome. (hehe).
"Now class, turn to the back of your tombs and-" Snakey was interrupted by the chimes of a bell "Blast!" he said. The class cheered as we all practically ran out the stuffy classroom into the glorious canals of Stormwind.
"Operation Hide and Seek in T minus 20 minutes!" Jamain shouted. He had the loudest voice ever! He could shout through the auction house and still be heard. Jamain was one of my best friends, along with Jane, Leeroy and Smithy. We got into so much trouble together!
I laughed as Jam jumped through the air
" I'll be there Jam!" I shouted. He grinned and gave me a thumbs up, His long blue hair flying around his head as he ran. Jam was a Night elf, as blue as blue could be. Jane was Jam's cousin, it turns out nearly all night elves are somehow related. She however had curly green hair that bounced up and down when she did that weird night elf jiggle when she got bored. Her skin however was lighter than Jam's, she almost looked human. Leeroy was a strong build of human, tallest and most muscular in the class. He had short blond hair and little dimples that formed when he smiled, which he did often. He was descended from Leeroy Jenkins, his grandson. Smithy was a small gnome who had snow white hair that hung to his shoulders, descended from a long line of Mages, He was convinced he would be one as well.
I burst into through the door to my house to be greeted by my younger brother Pan (No his name wasn't really Pan it was Panamortiome, but you wouldn't call him that, it's a bit of a mouthful!).
"Ju-Ju, Hide and Seek!! YAY YAY!" Pan shouted as we ran up to our room. I changed out of my dull shirt and pinafore with the alliance crest on it and slipped on a sea blue half robe (A robe that has the arms cut of and only half of the skirty bit, so it shows most of the legs) and some Blue wraps around my leg. I shoved of the shoes that Sir Pent made us wear. He insisted that if we attended school in Stormwind that we wear shoes like the humans. My hooves throbbed after a day in those. After changing I went to the mirror and checked if i was presentable. My black-pigtails hung loosely around my blue face. I shoved a JuJu bird feather in each hair tie and threaded beads onto them. JuJu was my favourite animal mostly because of it's similar name to mine and because of its multicolored feathers. After grabbing my feathery bag and stuffing some black out bombs, some markers and a map of Stormwind, I went over to Pan. He had dressed into a sleeveless vest, His favourite yellow handprint tabard, and some purple leggings. He ruffled his hair and grabbed His bag and packed it like i did, but without the black out bombs. ( They were a bit of a legend among my friends. If you needed a quick get away from a gaurd who was scolding you, throw a black out bomb. They'll go temporarily blind and forget the past 5 minutes. Genius!). Me and Pan were the few who used markers, visible to only the weilder, they marked the routes and hiding spots you had already taken, they also marked when a catcher last passed them. Paa was an excellent inventor! When he had packed his bag we both ran downstairs.
" Ov to da epic Stormwind Hide and Seek fest are you? Sounds vun! They got all za gaurdz in Stormwind on maximum alert vor you leetl kiddies gamez!" Paa said.
"You aint going wivout food in ya stomachs!" Maa stopped us and handed us generous handfuls of cookies. "Take more in caze youz getz hungary!" Maa handed us more cookies. I thrust the cookies into my bag and took a big gulp of my milk, draining it in 3 gulps. Pan did the same.
"Okiez bay bay Maa!" I shouted back to her as we rushed out the door. Using my normal voice with my thick Exodar accent. When among non Draenei friends i used the most accentless voice as i could, but among family it was O.K.
"Youz be careful!" Paa shouted.
It was a short walk to the centre of the Trade District from Cathedral Square, but it was even quicker running! Quite a crowd of kids were cheering as Leeroy wrestled a gaurd, probably for entertainment, seeming to be winning. A platform had been erected a couple days before and enchanted thanks to Smithy's family so the guards couldn't take it down. I spotted my friends just behind the platform.
" Hey Ju! Great it's just some from Old town who aren't here yet!" Jane greeted me.
" KK guys, look, the Old townies are here, thats everyone then. Right lets go up there and lay out the ground rules." I said. Leeroy stopped wrestling the gaurd and went onto the platform with us. Everyone fell silent as Jane stepped to the front.
"Right everybody, you've all been waiting for this so we don't want it to be ruined. There are some rules that need to be followed and if you don't immediate disqualification from all games for the next month!" Jane looked around into the fearful and excited faces of the audience. I stepped to the front
"No fighting! Not with each other especially! Feel free to own the guards with any sorts of methods you want!" I shouted. A cheer came up from the crowd as the guards slowly backed away from the platform. " If you are caught report immediately back here, no pretending you're still in! I stepped back as Smithy stepped forward
" Try not to break anything! I doubt that will happen but it means less hassle and it means less use of these!" Smithy shouted as he threw a black out bomb at an approaching guard. The guard stared into space for a bit, then walked the other way. " Stormwind keep and the stockades are off limits because of what happened last Tuesday!" He looked around as some members of the crowd looked away in shame. The paint bombs had still been fun though! Finally Jam stepped forwards. everybody tensed up and ran to the four exit points of the trade district.
"Not yet guys! First I will name the catchers, they have been picked at random by a draw! They are: Egeus and Xander from Old Town! Stone and Kleric from the Dwarven district! Petunia and Kiril from the Park! And finally Jaina and Willhelm from the Mage Quarter!"
Jam grinned.
"Let the games....." He shouted so loudly that I was sure everyone in Stormwind could hear," BEGIN!!!!!" It was a mass Exodus, children running and screaming to find a hiding place. The catchers were counting to 400 on the wooden platform. We ran down and huddled just under the platform.
"June you go with Jam, I'll go with Leeroy and Smithy." Jane whispered.
"Right." We said in unison and with that we darted off.